A unique fantasy novel set in a fictionalized river civilization reminiscent of ancient Egypt where the mechanics and logic of magic are mostly elided, leaving only evocative descriptions and the singular ramification that sorcerers subsume the psyches of other sorcerers they murder.

A cut above most fantasy novels, The Mask of the Sorcerer is more about the relationship one has with parents, the parents’ plans they set for children, and the children’s disruption of those plans while inevitably being one’s father’s son.